Subject: Review: Jurassic Park III (2001)

From: Dustin Putman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 17:49:33 -0000

Jurassic Park III       * * * (out of * * * * ) 

Directed by Joe Johnston. 
Cast: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni, Trevor Morgan, Alessandro 
Nivola, Laura Dern, Michael Jeter, John Diehl, Bruce A. Nash. 
2001 - 92 minutes 
Rated PG-13 (for violence and mild profanity). 
Reviewed by Dustin Putman, July 19, 2001. 

With Steven Spielberg stepping down to getting merely an "executive producer" 
credit, director Joe Johnston's "Jurassic Park III" could unquestionably have 
been an irrelevant, needless second sequel to one of the biggest money-making 
franchises of all time. With all of its possible story options told out in 
the first two pictures, could there really be more to do with the premise 
aside from hack together pieces from the predecessors and construct them into 
a new, cohesive whole? Quite the contrary, as "Jurassic Park III" turns out 
to be a new kind of breed of dinosaur--a little long in the tooth, but with 
just enough life to resurrect not only the series, but the genre of big, 
summer action-adventure movies. 

If 1993's "Jurassic Park" was a groundbreaking achievement, both in modern 
special effects and marvelous, cliffhanging storytelling, and 1997's "The 
Lost World: Jurassic Park" was a joyless, boring misfire with none of the 
magic that made the original so memorable, then "Jurassic Park III" stands as 
infinitely better than the second film, but not quite up to par with the 
first. Still, it's an entertaining and tightly-wound suspense yarn that, 
clocking in at 92 minutes, is over a half-hour shorter than the previous 
"Jurassic" excursions. This running time difference works as a definite 
asset, as the story and break-neck action sequences get going almost right 
away, bypassing the dreary, seemingly endless exposition that made "The Lost 
World" almost a chore to endure. 

Triumphantly reprising his role from the first movie, Sam Neill stars as Dr. 
Alan Grant, a paleontologist who, seven years after his unforgettable 
experiences at Jurassic Park, still must field questions about what he went 
through and saw. A proposition comes his way in the form of Paul (William H. 
Macy) and Amanda Kirby (Tea Leoni), a wealthy, married couple who wish to fly 
over Isla Sorna and take in the glorious sights of the dinosaur-infested Site 
B. Following a generous paycheck that leads Dr. Grant; his young, wide-eyed 
assistant, Billy Brennan (Alessandro Nivola); and three other crew members, 
to accompany the Kirby's on their "harmless" trip, their real motives emerge. 
The Kirby's, it seems, are a middle-class, divorced couple who have every 
intention of landing the plane on Isla Sorna to begin searching for their 
14-year-old son, Eric (Trevor Morgan), whose paraglide crashed there eight 
weeks earlier. When their airplane crashes on the island, however, they find 
themselves stranded without any way of calling for help, in a land of 
dinosaurs that would happily eat them for lunch. 

With little more than a brief fifteen-minute introduction to the characters 
and plot, "Jurassic Park III" jumps to the chase, literally and figuratively. 
The next hour is an almost non-stop parade of snazzy, state-of-the-art visual 
effects that make the creatures look more realistic and elaborate than ever, 
and fast-moving, breathtaking action set pieces that don't hardly let up to 
allow you to breathe. One such sequence, set on a creaky jawbridge that the 
potential victims have no idea is located inside a giant birdcage with 
flying, carnivorous Pteranodons, jauntily milks the tension for all its 
worth. 

Also working to the film's advantage is the intoxicating sense of wonder that 
the dinosaurs are depicted with--a trait that made the original so special, 
and one that was utterly absent from the followup. This assured, smart 
decision allows to give the film an unexpected depth that it otherwise might 
not have had in such a quick-paced narrative. The music, by Don Davis, 
powerfully recaptures the lush score that John Williams perfected in the 
original. And the screenplay, by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne (1999's 
"Election"), and Jim Taylor, is crisply well-written. 

With so many dinosaur chases, the character interaction is effective, 
workmanlike, and kept to a minimum. Sam Neill proves again what a 
mesmerizing, underrated actor he is, and why he is better suited for the 
"hero" role than the slightly nerdy Jeff Goldblum was in "The Lost World." 
Making the debut appearances in the series, William H. Macy (2000's "State 
and Main") and Tea Leoni (2000's "The Family Man") are just the type of 
strong character actors that give their roles the added nuances needed to 
avoid cliches. In only a few scenes, we are able to believe that Paul and 
Amanda Kirby are divorcees who still, in one way or the other, love each 
other very much. Laura Dern (2000's "Dr. T and the Women") also makes a 
refreshing appearance, albeit a fairly small one, as Ellie Sadler, her 
character from the original. Dern is such a likable presence, and does such a 
good job here with not much screen time, that it's a shame she couldn't have 
been right alongside Neill throughout. One thing is for sure: their chemistry 
together is undeniable. 

"Jurassic Park III" is so thrilling a motion picture that its ending, 
unfortunately, comes out feeling anticlimactic. A final run-in with their 
meat-eating adversaries seems missing, as if the makers couldn't wait for the 
film to come to a close. The disappointing conclusion aside, "Jurassic Park 
III" is a welcome return to the style and startling execution that made the 
1993 picture such a success. With a final image that hints at a possible 
fourth "Jurassic" adventure, the thought of such, it turns out, doesn't seem 
like such a bad idea after all. 

  - Copyright 2001 by Dustin Putman 
    http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Dustin+Putman 

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X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 236666
X-RT-TitleID: 1108705
X-RT-AuthorID: 1388
X-RT-RatingText: 3/4